Q&A with Philly's Pedal Co-Op Founder

by Ellen Slattery
Feb 28th 2008 @ 10:00AM

One Saturday night last May, Woody (née John MacDuffie Woodburn, pictured above) and his roommate, Pete, were chillin' at South Philly institution Bob & Barbra's, sipping beers and musing on recyclables.

"We noticed that the only waste that they had [could all be] recycled," Woody told me via e-mail. "We could make money by removing their recyclables and the bar could save money from the waste management and, in return, pay us a little."

That little idea took off, and became Philly's Pedal Co-Op, a locally-owned and operated nonprofit that transports compost, trash and recyclables to and from local businesses via bicycle. The nonprofit now has eight active members, all guys so far (come on, cycling ladies of Philly - the Co-op needs you!) who share in the responsibilities. The pick-ups allow local businesses to recycle without the hefty curbside fees that the city tacks on, and encourages composting in the meantime.

Rather than tell you about it, I'll let Woody do the talking (er, typing). Click on the link below to read a Q&A with this fascinating fellow.

GreenDaily: How confident were you that your idea would work, or were you just hoping for the best?

Woody: I guess I am hoping for the best since Pedal Co-Op is just starting out. I have to admit we came along way from 8 months ago. Last summer, I took apart a bunch of apparatus that are not being used (I am a researcher at PENN Medical Center) to be able to make a home made trailer since I didn't have money to spare to buy a trailer. For the next 6 months it was just I and my friend Dunstan Horng who started to pick up the recycling at Fiume Bar (45th and Locust Ave) for a modest fee of $10 a week and a couple of drinks free. [ed. note: Fiume is a teeny happenin' bar in West Philadelphia].

GD: Could you walk me through a typical day?

W: A typical run looks like this:

1. Retrieve the bike and trailer from the storage location.
2. Go to the local small businesses (e.g. Fiume, Green Line Cafe, and Metropolitan Bakery).
3. Load the recycling containers onto the trailer.
4. Bike to Blue Mountain Recycling Center located on Grey's Ferry Avenue [ed. note: approximately two miles from Southwest Philly start].
5. Dump the recycling at Blue Mountain.
6. Bike back and do another run at the same business (if need be) or go to another business and repeat steps 3 through 5.
7. After two runs, return bike and trailer to storage location.

Each run takes one hour.

GD: How far do you bike per week/month?

W: I don't know, a bunch I guess since I bike to get groceries, bike to work, bike just for fun. Right now our only customers are Fiume and Metropolitan Bakery in University City. We are currently working to begin our services for Mariposa Food Co-Op and the Green Line Cafe [both are located in Southwest Philadelphia]. Furthermore, there have been some interest from the Center City businesses and we have a couple of meetings lined up with [them] to see if we can be able to meet their needs.

GD: What's the largest load of recyclables you've ever towed?

W: The largest load I have personally towed was roughly a 285 lb load of recyclables. One interesting fact is that hauling by bicycle is roughly 10 minutes faster than a regular passenger car with the same load.

GD: What are your long-term goals for the Co-Op? Do you plan to expand or move to other cities?

W: My long term goal is to see sub sections of the Pedal Co-Op all over the city (kind of like the recycling map of the city). There would be a headquarters in West Philly (10 people), Center City, South Philly, etc. So, on any given day, one will be able to see people with bikes and trailers.

...Rock on, Woody.

from http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/28/qanda-with-phillys-pedal-co-op-foun...